MELETIUS OF ANTIOCH

In Sunday schools, parishes, and finally in priest seminaries, we all studied the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea of 325 and the great Church Fathers, from Athanasius of Alexandria to Augustine of Hippo, who, in opposition to the Arian heretics, defended the truth that the Son of God, who became man in history in Christ Jesus, is the True God, consubstantial with the Father. When asked who made the decisive contribution to the victory of Orthodoxy in that era of complex confrontations, many will name Athanasius the Great (295–373), Basil of Caesarea (330–379), or Gregory the Theologian (329–390). But hardly anyone will remember Meletius of Antioch. He is the most forgotten of all the great Fathers of the Church.

1 On February 25, the Church commemorates Meletius of Antioch (+381). Among the great Fathers of the Church of that glorious era, there is probably no one whose memory has been so paradoxically and undeservedly forgotten by subsequent generation. A saint, bishop, pastor, confessor, preacher, and theologian, Meletius was truly great. Strong in deed and word, he was like the biblical prophets in the eyes of his Orthodox contemporaries.

2 The fourth century was a time of the greatest theological confrontation over the very essence of Christian teaching. At the level of dogma, the question was being decided as to who the Incarnate God was, the uncreated eternal Son of God or simply a creation. Arianism, which considered the Son to be created, was extraordinarily powerful. It was supported by the emperors and, to a large extent, by the Eastern episcopate.

3 Meletius came from Lesser Armenia, that distant part of the Asian continent that begins east of Cappadocia. Being the son of large landowners and deciding to devote himself to the Church, Meletius, under the conditions of that time, was simply destined to become a bishop. At first, around 358, he headed the diocese of his native city of Sebaste. But he soon left this see, as Theodoret writes in his History of the Church, “because of the unruliness of the people” (2.31). Thus, Meletius taught the bishops of his time the art of leaving. This is a very tragic circumstance, because formally he was deposed, and deposed by the “People of God.” How can we not recall the teaching of his contemporary, Tikhon of Africa (+390), who taught that “the Church is a bipartite body, in which one part belongs to Christ and the other to the devil.” The devil’s body will be taken away at the end of history and cast into eternal fire. The flame that will burn away evil, according to St. Augustine (345–430), will be beautiful and will delight the righteous in the mysticism of light and fire.

4 According to the rules of the Ancient Church, a bishop was elected to his see for life. Transfer was not allowed. But the Arian crisis of the mid-fourth century plunged the Eastern Church into such chaos that these rules began to be broken. In addition, the founding of New Rome by Emperor Constantine on the shores of the Bosphorus in 330 caused a canonical collapse in the Church. Antiquity knew only three apostolic sees: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. Jerusalem had been completely destroyed by the Romans, and Constantinople did not have apostolic origins and did not exist at all until then.

4 According to the rules of the Ancient Church, a bishop was elected to his see for life. Transfer of a diocese, which in our times is called moving to another place of ministry, was not permitted. However, the Arian crisis of the mid-4th century plunged the Eastern Church into such chaos that these rules began to be violated. In addition, the founding of New Rome by Emperor Constantine on the shores of the Bosphorus in 330 led to canonical turbulence. In ancient times, only three apostolic sees were known: Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch. Jerusalem had been completely destroyed by the Romans, and Constantinople had no apostolic origins and did not even exist at that time.

5 Meletius came from Armenia. Most likely, he was not Greek. His Christianity was Syrian. Biblical rather than philosophical in nature, this Christianity was close to Saint James of Nisibis (+338), a prophet and wonderworker, Saint Ephrem the Syrian (306-373), a mystic and eucharistic poet. In relation to all the opposing theological teachers of the time, Meletius was so different, that he seemed to everyone to be one of their own. With the support of the Arian party, which was dominant in Constantinople at the time, Meletius was elected bishop of Antioch. It was truly a divine and providential step!

6 Antioch at that time was the Apostolic See. The Church of Antioch was the principal and preeminent church in the entire East. Not only Syria, Mesopotamia, Palestine, and Jerusalem, but also Cappadocia and all of Asia Minor. were under its jurisdiction. Even before this title was established at the Fourth Ecumenical Council in Chalcedon (451), the bishop of Antioch was the true Patriarch of the East.

7 In the West, Rome and in Africa, Alexandria were preeminent. The significance of Meletius’ election was weakened by the fact that these two main sees did not recognize him. At that time, four (!) parallel hierarchies had headed the Church of Antioch. In addition to Meletius, these were: the extreme Arian hierarchy headed by Eusebius (361-378); the strictly Nicene hierarchy led by Paulinus II (362-388); and, finally, another hierarchy unilaterally created by Bishop Apollinaris of Laodicea (310-390), who ordained his disciple Vitalius as bishop of Antioch.

8 Meletius was bishop of Antioch for twenty years. He spent a significant part of this time in exile. The periods of exile varied in length. But all this time, most of the Antiochian flock remained with him. They gathered together in a separate cathedral for worship, remembered him, and waited for his return. The West and Alexandria did not recognize Meletius until the very end. In the end, the saint agreed that after his death, all parallel hierarchies would merge into one, and they would be headed by the bishop Paulinus II (362-388), who did not recognize him. Meletius taught the bishops of his time the art of compromise. Without Meletius, the entire Christian world would have been different; perhaps there would not have been a single Church.

9 During this time, Meletius essentially created his own theological school. From this school, we have received a remarkable and significant collection entitled “Apostolic Constitutions,” a theological edition of the corpus of Ignatius of Antioch’s Epistles, as well as a collection of ancient canon rules entitled “Apostolic Canons.” Perhaps Meletius himself would have been very surprised to learn that it was precisely through reference to the canons of this collection he had prepared that bishops and clergy in the first quarter of the twenty-first century would be subject to canonical penalties and even laicization. It was thanks to Meletius that Basil the Great was ordained bishop of Caesarea, Gregory the Theologian went to preach Orthodoxy in then Arian Constantinople, and later John Chrysostom was accepted into the clergy, ordained, and began his preaching. As a result, it was Meletius’ authority that united the entire Orthodox East in accordance with Nicene Orthodoxy.

10 In 378, the Arian heretic Emperor Valens II died in battle. Theodosius the Great, faithful to Nicene Orthodoxy, ascended the throne. On the eve of his ascension, he had a vision in which Meletius elevated him to the royal throne. In May 381, the Second Ecumenical Council was convened. Meletius presided over it. At that time, the Council proceeded peacefully. But Meletius suddenly died during the sessions. Deprived of the protection of the great saint, Gregory the Theologian (+390) was expelled from the Constantinople See and sent into retirement. Meletius’ death was so contrary to the normal course of events that even the dogmatic formulations of the Fathers of the Council were not completed as they should have been. Thus, the Council condemned the Pneumatomachians, that is, those who denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit, but, fearing new schisms similar to the “Meletian” one, did not include in the dogmatic definition the words about the consubstantiality of the Spirit with the Father and the Son. Centuries later, this led to the unilateral adoption of the phrase “filioque” in the text of the Creed in the West. Filioque, literally “and from the Son,” was intended to emphasize the equality of the Son to the Father against the remnants of Arianism, which was still strong in the West, as well as to “emphasize” the consubstantiality of the Spirit with the Father. Filioque tragically became one of the main causes of the division between the Churches of Rome and Constantinople. During his lifetime, Meletius was inconspicuous. Immediately after his death, it became clear what it meant to lose him.

11 From Constantinople, Meletius’ relics were transferred to Antioch through many cities, where they were always greeted with solemnity. Before that, such a thing was not allowed. After all, in pagan Rome, the world of the dead was separated from the world of the living. Thus, the great Meletius became a sign of the Expectation of the Resurrection of the Dead, with which Christianity conquered the world. The bishop’s body was laid next to the relics of the glorified martyr Babylas of Antioch (+251). For the Church of that time, this meant that Meletius was not dead, but alive. Subsequent centuries would call this canonization.